Light of Day
by thesewarmstars
Summary: Years after the battle, on a dark and stormy night, a dead man shows up on Harry's doorstep. Prompt from Snarry-a-thon 2017: #28 - Voldemort, in his final battle with Harry, used the Dark Mark to suck magic from his Death Eaters. Now, all his inner circle are reduced to near-Squib status. HP/SS


**Title:** Light of Day.  
 **Other pairings/threesome:** RW/HG, *Snape/various Death Eaters*.  
 **Rating:** NC-17.  
 **Word count:** ~10,400.  
 **Warning(s):** *EWE, past torture, past non-con*.  
 **Prompt from Snarry-a-thon 2017:** #28 - Voldemort, in his final battle with Harry, used the Dark Mark to suck magic from his Death Eaters. Now, all his inner circle are reduced to near-Squib status.  
 **Summary:** Years after the battle, on a dark and stormy night, a dead man shows up on Harry's doorstep.  
 **A/N:** Thanks to the awesome mods for organizing the fest (again!) and granting deadline extensions with no duress.

It was raining.

Harry didn't mind the rain, as a rule, but stormy nights made 12 Grimmauld Place seem even darker and spookier than usual. The heavy raindrops sounded like fingernails tapping on the windows, the thunder and lightning became curses hurled around the neighborhood, and the wind moaned about the front stoop.

Except the wind didn't usually sound like actual _words_. "Help," it moaned. Harry shook his head, trying to get the crazy notion out of his head.

"Potter, you ingrate!"

Harry hurried to the door. Vague sounds were one thing, but now he was being insulted? He threw the door open.

"What the bloody hell's going on out – ! What's this now?" His bluster left him as he saw the pile of dark rags propped in the corner. He jumped when the rags shifted.

"Potter, let me in, for Merlin's sake!"

"Who's there!" Harry frantically ran through the list of people with access to his _Fidelius_ -protected home. Certainly no one who fit the description of dark and angry, with a deep, resonant… "Snape?!"

The rags unfolded, revealing a thin, dirty, scowling wizard. "Just let me in, Potter." Snape's eyebrows drew together, his scowl deepening. "Please."

Harry stood, dumbfounded. How was this possible? Snape had died almost three years ago, he'd seen it himself!

"What are you doing here?"

Snape sighed. "I should have known you'd cleave to your schoolboy grudges." He moved to stand, groaning.

"That's not what I – Hey, like you're one to talk about schoolboy grudges! You're like the king of – whoa there!" Harry lunged forward, catching Snape just before he collapsed back to the floor.

"Let's get you in, then."

Harry paced the sitting room, wondering if he was going mad. Snape, who had passed out somewhere between the porch and the foyer, was stretched out on the sofa looking quite haggard.

Only, he really should have looked even worse. Harry had seen him die, had watched as the blood flowed out onto the floor of the Shrieking Shack and the dark eyes had dimmed. Granted, he hadn't gone back there afterwards, as there seemed to be no point. In fact, he'd hardly thought about Snape at all in the intervening years, beyond making sure the story of his heroism was published for all to see.

So what was he doing here? Assuming, for the moment, that Harry was not mad after all, he'd clearly survived Nagini's attack somehow. Harry had no way of knowing what he'd been up to since then, but he was clearly in dire straits at the moment.

And he was asking Harry for help.

That almost seemed like the most bizarre thing of all. What could Snape have gotten into that he would come begging help from someone he hated so much? There was always some amount of crime and shady characters in the Wizarding World – Harry had witnessed as much in his two years of Auror training. But when he'd passed his exams, he hadn't even felt guilty about leaving the department because, well, just about all the dark wizards were gone, weren't they?

After the battle, the remaining Death Eaters had posed no threat – Voldemort had drained them of their magic trying to make himself even more powerful in his final moments. A few had been easily rounded up in the immediate aftermath, but not much effort had been put into tracking down the rest. After all, what threat were they now?

And where had Snape been all this time? For nearly three years, the Wizarding World had seen neither hide nor hair of him – Harry was sure he'd have heard about it. That sort of news would've been all over the papers.

What was wrong with Snape, anyway? Harry spun toward him, only to find himself already under scrutiny. Snape peered at him from under his scraggly hair.

"Well, what have you decided?"

Harry started. "What?"

"Are you going to call the Aurors?"

"The… What? Why?"

"Don't trifle with me, boy. I am," he hissed in pain as he shifted on the sofa, "not in the mood."

"I'm not! You aren't, you know, wanted or anything."

Snape looked skeptical, but didn't say anything.

"Are you… okay?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "No."

Harry threw his hands up in exasperation. "Yes, all right, I can see that. What's wrong? How can I help you? Why did you come here?"

"It was the only safe place I could get to."

"Fine, whatever. I was just about to eat. You look like you haven't had a decent meal since you disappeared, so why don't you come join me?"

Slowly and carefully, groaning, Snape pushed himself up off the sofa.

"If you insist."

Harry wasn't sure what to do now. He'd fed the man – quite a lot, actually – and given him as much tea as he wanted. Now they sat at the kitchen table in silence punctuated by periodic peals of thunder, Snape with his hands wrapped around his cup, staring down at it, and Harry wondering what the hell he was supposed to do.

Snape hadn't said much over dinner, certainly nothing that actually told Harry anything. And though at least he was conscious now, he still looked to be at death's door.

"Do you want me to get you a healer?" Harry asked.

"No."

"Do you want a healing draught? I've got a few of the standard things."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Who brewed them?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry answered, "Hermione made most of them. A couple are from Slug and Jiggers."

With a tight nod, Snape rose and slowly made his way to the potions cabinet, which was right where it had always been when the Order had been headquartered there, just to the right of the range. He chose three potions – Harry hadn't the faintest clue which – and swallowed them. He closed his eyes and stood very still for a moment, but when he opened them again and turned toward Harry expectantly, Harry did think he looked a bit better. A little less peaky, anyway.

"I, er, it's pretty late," Harry said finally. "Why don't you take the guest room on the second floor? There's a loo just to the – well, I'm sure you remember."

Snape just nodded again and turned toward the stairs.

Harry dropped his head into his hands and wondered what the bloody hell he'd just gotten himself into.

When Harry saw Snape the next day, he looked a lot better. Or cleaner, anyway. The tattered robes he'd arrived in were gone, though Harry had no idea where he'd found the set he was wearing now. His hair was no longer a knotted, snarled mass, but back to its usual lankness.

His clean face, however, showed Harry just how gaunt Snape had become. He had shadows under his eyes and cuts and bruises in various stages of healing on his hands, neck, and face.

He flinched back when Harry raised a hand toward him. He'd meant to pull Snape's hair aside to get a better look, but detoured his hand to the cabinet next to Snape and got down a teacup instead. He gestured toward the teakettle.

"There any of that left?"

Snape nodded and sat himself at the table while Harry poured his cup. "Thanks," he said as he sat down across from Snape.

"It seemed the least I could do, considering," Snape answered.

Harry tried to keep his surprise to himself. Snape must be truly desperate if he was being polite to Harry Potter!

"So what's your plan, then? Would you like to stay here for a few days?" Harry ventured.

Snape's lips tightened for a moment before he answered. "If it would not be too much of an imposition. I have nowhere else to go, but I imagine they're looking for me. I'm sure you have things to do, so I shall endeavor not to cause you too much disturbance."

Harry shrugged. "I'm sort of between things at the moment." Had been for a couple of months now, but he'd not mention that. "Who's after you? Where have you been?"

Snape looked away. "The Death Eaters captured me after the battle."

Harry's eyebrows went up. "The Death Eaters! But they lost their magic!"

Snape nodded. "Most of it, yes. However, I was quite incapacitated at the time, as I'm sure you'll recall."

Yes, Harry could see that. But what had they wanted with Snape? "Wait a minute, you must have lost your magic as well!"

Snape shook his head. "Only a small fraction. Hence their interest in me. Once it became apparent that, essentially, I still had my magic while all others with the Mark did not, they made it their mission to discover why in the hopes it would allow them to get their own magic back." He shuddered, looking away again.

"And they… they had you this whole time? How did you escape?"

Snape sighed. "I'm tired, Potter. I'm going to go lie down."

Harry didn't see Snape for the rest of the day. When it became apparent he would not be coming down for dinner (Harry had knocked on his door, but there was no answer), he floo-called Ron and Hermione and begged them to come over.

When he had finished his story, Ron still looked unconvinced. "So you're telling me Severus Snape is asleep in this house, right now."

"Well, I don't know if he's asleep or not, but he's definitely up there."

"How horrible!" Hermione said. "Can you imagine what they must have done to him?"

Ron shrugged. "What could they do with no magic?"

Hermione swatted his thigh. "Plenty! Muggles are cruel to each other all the time without the benefit of magic. And you heard what Harry said – they may still have some after all."

Harry nodded. "He's obviously been through a lot. But what am I supposed to do with him?"

"Can't he just go back to his own place?" Ron asked.

"Honestly, Ron. He was declared deceased; the property won't be in his name anymore. It's probably been sold at a Muggle auction."

"He did say he had nowhere else to go," Harry added.

"Well, there's got to be some better place for him to stay than here with you. You've already put up with him for a whole day!"

Harry shook his head, thinking of the haunted look in Snape's eyes. "He's not been that bad, Ron." He couldn't help remembering Snape's reflexive flinch that morning. Whatever had been done to him, it seemed it'd had a profound affect. "If he feels safe here, he can stay as long as he likes. He did make me tea this morning."

Ron's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, Hermione, I almost forgot. I might need a few replacement potions – Snape took some of them this morning."

"Did he?" Hermione went to the potions cabinet to investigate. "Hmm, a nutrition draught, Blood Replenisher, and a pain draught. Perhaps I should ask him if he'd like anything specific?"

"There's a lab here," Harry reminded her. "I'm sure if he wants anything else, he'd rather brew it himself."

"Well, I'll just check that it's stocked before I leave, then."

Harry nodded, not bothering to pretend he'd looked into the room since moving in. "Yeah, that'd be good. But what else do I do?"

Hermione considered. "You might check with the Headmistress to see if he has any belongings still at Hogwarts."

"Right, yeah. I'll owl her this evening."

Satisfied that his friends had no advice on how to actually deal with Snape himself, Harry saw them out not much later. After owling Headmistress McGonagall, he fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning, Harry found Snape in the kitchen again.

"I need to head to Diagon Alley for a few things today," Harry mentioned as he stirred his tea. "Want to come along and we can pick up whatever you need?"

Snape stepped backward until he hit the wall. "No. No, I can't… I don't want to go out there. They could be…"

Harry nodded. "Okay, no problem. I should have considered they might still be looking for you." He took a bite of his toast and Snape finally sat down. "Any idea why you've still got your magic, then?" he asked.

Snape took a slow, deep breath. "I believe that the Dark Lord drew only dark magic from his followers. For nearly all of them, this was the majority, if not all, of their magic. Some of the younger ones, those who had not been so long in his service, have enough to do some small spells."

"But yours was hardly affected," Harry replied with a smile. If Ron needed any more evidence that Snape wasn't a dark wizard, here it was.

"Evidently."

"Well, I'm off soon. I'll probably be back in time for lunch. Help yourself to the library, or whatever else!"

When Harry got back that afternoon, he had quite a few parcels shrunken and stuffed in his pockets.

"Snape!" he called, pulling out packages and setting them here or there depending on whether they needed to go to the kitchen or to the apparently appallingly depleted potions lab. "You around here somewhere?"

"Of course," Snape answered as he came into the sitting room. "There's no need to shout."

Harry shrugged. "It's a big place. Sorry I'm late – had an unexpected stop to make." He pulled one last parcel from his robe pocket and held it out to Snape.

"What's this?" he asked as he took the miniature trunk.

"Some of your stuff the Headmistress had tucked away."

Snape's eyes widened. "Minerva?"

Harry nodded. "She was pretty happy when I told her why I wanted it. Cried on me. She wants you to come and see her as soon as you can."

Snape just stared.

"I, er, asked her not to spread it around too much yet." He gestured toward the trunk on Snape's palm. "Go on, then."

Snape carefully placed the trunk on the floor and enlarged it. Inside were robes, books, and an assortment of various other things that must have been in his quarters at Hogwarts. He pulled out a chipped china plate and held it to his chest.

"Thank you for retrieving these. It is… appreciated."

"No problem, Snape. These are for the potions lab, if you've an interest," Harry added, pointing to the packages from the apothecary.

"You've changed."

"What, you mean since I was sixteen? I should think so! For the better, I hope?"

"No, I find you more intolerable than ever."

Harry laughed. "Were you always funny and I just didn't notice?"

Snape shrugged. "One must have skills."

"You're a regular riot, Snape."

"You could call me Severus. If you liked."

Harry struggled to contain his surprise. Clearly that old plate was making Snape emotional or something. "Uh, sure. I'd like that. And you should call me Harry, of course."

Snape just nodded, still staring at the contents of his trunk.

"Sn – Er, Severus. Do you mind if I ask? What did those guys do to you?"

Snape started and looked over at Harry, but he didn't say anything.

"I mean, they obviously didn't feed you very well. I sort of know what that's like. I just mean, if you want to talk about it or anything, I'm here. I won't, you know, say anything to anyone. Did they just hold you prisoner? Or was it, you know…?"

"They wanted information. They used any and all means at their disposal in their attempts to get it, Potter."

"Harry, please."

Snape nodded, but did not add anything.

"I just want to help you," Harry said, feeling desperately sad and useless.

Snape levitated his trunk to the staircase. Pausing, he looked over his shoulder at Harry. "You are."

That night, Harry couldn't get to sleep. He wanted to know who the bastards were that held Snape captive and tortured him. He went over the events of the final battle again and again, making mental lists.

The Carrows, Dolohov, and Rodolphus Lestrange were in Azkaban.

Scabior, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Jugson were dead.

Try as he might, Harry couldn't think of any others whose fate he was certain of. That left dozens who could have been involved in holding Snape! Maybe he should look at some old copies of the _Prophet_ or ask someone about it. Surely more must have been –

His train of thought was abruptly cut off by a muffled shout. Peeling back the covers, he sat up and wrapped his dressing gown around himself. Where had it come from?

There it was again! He ventured into the hall. Yes, it was definitely coming from Snape's room. It was on the same floor as his own, separated only by the loo. He stood outside Snape's door, indecisive.

When he heard another distressed moan, he didn't think about it anymore. Quietly, he opened the door and slipped inside.

"Snape? Severus, can you hear me?"

Snape did not wake, so Harry went over to the bed. He reached out a hand to Snape's shoulder. "Severus, you're having a bad – ah!" He pulled his hand back from what felt like a zap of electricity as soon as he touched Snape.

"No, not again!" Snape pleaded, scooting away from Harry in the bed.

"It's just me, it's Harry! I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe here. You're in Grimmauld Place, safe in your bed."

Snape stilled, then slowly propped himself on his elbows to look around.

"They can't hurt you anymore."

Snape studied Harry for a moment, then let his head fall back onto his pillow. "My apologies. I didn't mean to wake you."

Harry shook his head. "It's fine, I wasn't even asleep." He reached his hand back over to Snape's shoulder, a little more slowly this time, but there were no magic shocks. "Are you okay?"

Snape snorted.

"Yeah. Can I get you a Calming Draught or anything?"

Snape shook his head.

"Water?"

"No, nothing. I… Thank you for waking me."

"No problem," Harry answered, reluctant to go just yet. "Do you mind if I sit for a while? Just to make sure you're fine?"

Snape shot him a puzzled look. "Do as you please."

Nodding, Harry moved to the chair in the corner of the room. "I'll just wait until you get back to sleep, then."

Snape had no more dreams that night.

Harry woke with a severe crick in his neck. With a groan, he righted himself in the chair and tried twisting his head about to relieve the pain. "Damn it, stupid chair," he grumbled.

"Serves you right. You should have gone back to your own room."

Snape was scowling and Harry, already in pain, was in no mood for it. "I was just trying to help you, you know!"

"You weren't asked! Try staying out of other people's business for once."

"You utter git! Show a bloke a bit of kindness and this is the thanks I get! Well, I'll take your advice and go back to my own room, then. See you downstairs, once you've pulled your head out of your arse!"

With that, Harry stomped back to his room. The nerve of him! Here Harry was, taking Snape into his own home, providing food, shelter and everything, and Snape had the gall to yell at him for it! Utter, utter git.

Harry should have known he hadn't really changed. He was still the same bastard Harry remembered from school, who took such pleasure in baiting Harry, talking down to him, and handing out detentions at every turn. The same Snape who had terrorized Harry's friends, especially in his year as Headmaster, though perhaps not as much as he might have. The same idiot who had just stood there as Voldemort ordered his snake to attack, basically letting himself get killed for the cause. Who had, with his dying breath, given Harry the memories that had shown his true colors and allowed Harry to finally defeat Voldemort once and for all. Who, though embittered by his unrequited love for Harry's mother, let it guide his actions in spying for Dumbledore and protecting Harry, whatever the cost, despite not even liking him.

"Ah, hell," Harry muttered, running a hand through his wild hair.

He shuffled back out into the hall and found Snape coming out of his room as well.

"I'm sorry!" they both blurted at the same time.

Snape sneered and Harry laughed. "Well, I guess that's sorted, then! Let's go find some breakfast."

A few days later, Snape was in the lab brewing some potions and Harry was in the sitting room on the same floor, contemplating what he was going to do with his life. He had been doing that a lot since quitting the Aurors, but hadn't reached any conclusions at all.

He knew that he didn't want to fight anymore. He knew he'd seen enough people die to last him a lifetime. Which left… well, a pretty much infinite number of possibilities.

He'd lost too much time to be able to go back to Quidditch at a professional level. And he had no NEWTs, though he expected this wouldn't be an insurmountable barrier for him. He didn't need a job that made tons of money, or really any at all. He just needed something that would let him feel useful, maybe help people in some way. Or other magical beings, maybe animals…

The door to the potions lab crashed open and Snape stumbled out, followed by a wisp of blue smoke.

Harry jumped up. "What in the hell! Are you all right?"

Snape, coughing, closed the door to the lab and pressed his back against it. "It should dissipate fairly quickly. There won't be any permanent damage to the room," he assured Harry.

"Toss the room! What about you?"

"I'm fine."

"Well, that's good. But what happened in there? Thought you were a bit beyond exploding your cauldrons!"

Snape pursed his lips. "Indeed. My magic is simply a bit… erratic at the moment."

"Erratic? From some of it being drained, you mean?"

Shaking his head, Snape answered, "No. It's nothing you need concern yourself with."

Harry crossed his arms. He didn't like that one bit. "But you're going to be fine, right?"

"Right."

"Fine. At least sit down, will you?"

Snape sat, leaning forward with his forearms braced against his thighs. Harry thought he hadn't quite recovered from the accident, even if it was just the shock of it.

"So did they… They did something that messed with your magic?" he ventured.

Snape sighed. "In a manner of speaking."

"Would you just tell me?" Harry huffed. "I don't even know what that's supposed to mean!"

Snape looked up, his eyes clouded with anger. "What do you want from me? You want all the disgusting little details, is that it? You want to hear about the beatings and the whips, the bruises and cuts? You want to hear about never getting a moment's peace, no sleep, nothing but bread and water for weeks and months unnumbered? About clubs and broomsticks and knives, and hot, panting breath from faces unseen? That is not the worst of it, I can assure you! Shall I go on?"

Harry shook his head, trying in vain to hold back the tears. "No, I mean… Yes, if you want. You can tell me whatever you want. But not because… I'm not demanding it! I just want you to be all right and be able to feel safe again! And I want you to tell me who it was, so I can teach them a lesson they won't soon forget!" He clenched his fist on his knee, so sad and angry at the same time that he didn't know whether to punch the wall or break down in sobs.

"Potter… Harry. I know you mean well. You've been very… kind to me. But it is not easy for me to discuss."

Harry nodded. "I know, I get that. But I think you need to, if you can. Especially if it's affecting your magic. I know I kept my pain inside for a long time, hoping it would go away, and if it didn't at least it wouldn't get on anyone else. But it doesn't work. You can't heal inside until you clean the wounds, and friends are the only way. At least, they were for me. Just talk with someone – it doesn't have to be me," he offered, though it pained him.

"I daresay you're right, though I'll deny it if you ever repeat it. I just need a little more time. I'll discuss it with you when I can."

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was so, so glad Snape had faith enough in him to talk about his experience, even if he wasn't ready just yet. Harry hated to think of him going to someone else with his confidences. That probably made him a pretty bad friend, but there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it.

Days went by, and sometimes Harry could almost forget that Snape had undergone some pretty extensive trauma. Most of the time Snape just went about his business, brewing potions, arguing with Harry, and in general being a snarky git.

But then sometimes Harry would get too close and he'd flinch or back away, or his magic would flare up unexpectedly, or he'd sit and stare into space with a pained, faraway expression. And there were the nightmares. Not every night, but often enough that Harry knew Snape wasn't really getting over it, whatever had happened.

Still, most of the time things were… normal. They ate and cleaned and sat talking in the drawing room. In fact, that's where they were now. It was a bit late, but Harry wasn't tired yet. He was on his fourth beer, despite Snape sticking to tea as he always had, and feeling loose and friendly.

"What am I gonna do with my life? I can't just sit around at home all the time! Gotta, you know, contribute!" Harry whined, waving his beer to point out the society to which he really should be giving something.

"Have you not 'contributed' enough?" Snape asked.

"That was so long ago. It almost feels like another lifetime, except, you know, when it doesn't. When it creeps up on you. But I've got a lot of time ahead of me! I can't just ride on the one thing I did when I was seventeen forever! Plus, I'd be bored out of my mind."

"Fair enough," Snape conceded. "What have you considered?"

Harry shrugged. "I dunno, everything."

"So you've thought about wand-making and ward-smithing and spell-crafting?"

"Well okay, maybe not everything. I didn't even know those were jobs! Do you really think I'd be any good at those things?" Harry thought they sounded a bit cerebral for him.

"I think you're perfectly capable, if you decide that's what you want to do."

Aww, that made Harry feel all warm inside. "You're so nice when you want to be!"

Snape scowled. "I'm simply pointing out that you are a singularly stubborn man."

Harry smiled and shifted closer to Snape on the sofa. "Nah, you think I'm smart! And I think you're cute," he declared, and leaned over to kiss Snape.

The next thing he knew, he was on his arse on the floor and Snape was across the room, breathing like he'd just run a marathon.

"What the hell," Harry muttered, rubbing his sore bottom. "I, erm, sorry?" he hazarded.

"No," Snape gasped out, "No, I can't. You shouldn't… I can't!" And then he was gone.

Harry felt a bit bewildered, and also like a right fool.

In the morning, Harry was nervous. He hadn't realized how good a friend Snape had become until suddenly he was imagining life without him. They just fit so well together, and Snape now seemed like a necessary part of his day-to-day existence. But surely after Harry's reckless performance last night, that was all over now.

Harry tiptoed into the kitchen and found Snape sitting in his usual spot at the table, munching on an apple.

Relieved, but not yet daring to let down his guard, Harry made some breakfast for himself and sat down quietly. He was nearly finished with his oatmeal when Snape broke the silence.

"It's the fetus," he said abruptly.

Harry's brain froze. He'd expected a telling-off, not… "Erm, what?"

"Affecting my magic," Snape added, as if that cleared everything up. "They tend to do that."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

Snape gave him a look like he was being stupid, and probably he was. "I'm pregnant," he said, over-enunciating, "and the fetus is causing my magic to behave erratically."

After a too-long beat of silence, Harry managed an, "Oh." His brain still felt frozen. Then suddenly, it un-froze and his thoughts started racing a thousand different directions at once.

"Holy Merlin! You're…? And there's a…? How in the world did… Oh my god." The color drained from his face and his eyes widened with sudden realization. "Were you…? Oh my god." He couldn't bring himself to say the word, even as things started falling into place.

Snape nodded, looking intently at the wall off to the right of Harry's head. "Some of them knew of my inclination toward men and sought to torment me for it. It was only… objects, at first."

Harry gaped in horror, stunned speechless. Only…?

"Then, I believe, they spied a missed opportunity and began taking a more… active part. I didn't think it would be possible in the magic-dampening cell where they kept me, but when I realized I was with child I knew I must escape. At all costs."

"Oh my god," Harry repeated.

"So now you understand why I cannot possibly welcome your advances. It would be… unfair of me, in my state," he said, hand moving to his flat belly.

"What? No!" Harry insisted. "That's not… You shouldn't… It isn't about that! I mean, I understand if you're not ready for that sort of thing, and especially after I threw myself at you last night! I'm so sorry, I can't believe I just pounced on you like that."

Snape smiled ruefully. "It was not your fault."

"Well, it wasn't yours, either!" Harry felt as if his heart was about to break into pieces. "I just want to be there for you. I think I… well, I like you a lot, and I want to be there for you and for the… the baby."

"This is a Death Eater's child, Harry."

"It's _your_ child. That's all that matters to me."

Snape shook his head. "You have had no time to think this through, trying though that may be for you. Give yourself some time to process things and I think you'll find that this… that _I_ am not a good choice for you."

"You're wrong," Harry said. "I'll think it over, like you said, but you're wrong."

And so it turned out that something Harry hadn't even considered a possibility the day before was now something he desperately wanted.

How had he gone and fallen for Snape, anyway? He could have sworn he found the man to be a generally irritating pompous ass at the best of times. But after living together with him in the same house for, what? Barely a month! And he'd become… attached, somehow.

He needed some help. Emotional help.

So he firecalled Hermione.

"D'you ever think about having kids?" he blurted as soon as he saw her face in the grate.

"Erm, perhaps I'd better come through for this conversation?"

"Yeah, all right," Harry answered, backing away to give her room.

"How are you, Harry?" she asked after she'd stepped through.

"I'm, you know, I'm fine."

"And how is Professor Snape?"

Harry grinned. "He's all right too, I s'pose."

"Is he."

"We had a, well we had a talk. A good talk. But I may have – but I didn't mean to!"

Hermione held her hand out to Harry. "Why don't we sit down, and we'll talk this over. All right?"

Harry nodded and let her lead him to the sofa. "So you spoke with Professor Snape."

"Yeah. He… told me some things."

"It's good that he's starting to open up about what happened to him," Hermione said with an encouraging nod.

"Definitely good. But then we were talking about jobs and stuff and I did something really stupid! But I think he forgave me?"

Hermione groaned. "Harry, what did you do?"

"I may have kissed him?"

"You _may_ have?"

"Well, I tried to at least."

"And what was his response to that?"

"Not great, to be honest."

Hermione nodded. "Expected."

"Hey!"

"I just mean he's been through a lot! He's probably not ready for that sort of intimacy right now."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Well, I'm probably better at guessing than you are. But tell me what's bothering you, exactly."

"He's gonna have a baby!" Harry blurted.

Hermione's eyebrows went up. "A baby? He's pregnant? Oh, how awful!"

"What?" Harry demanded, whipping his head round.

"No, I didn't mean it like that! Just that… Well. What must have happened."

Harry deflated. "Oh. Yeah. That part is pretty awful. Horrifying, really – I have no idea how he can cope with that."

"But you seem excited about the baby. Is he excited as well? I know that sometimes people in his position can have… mixed feelings," Hermione said hesitantly.

Harry sighed. "I guess I'm not sure. He said he knew he had to get out once he knew he was pregnant, that he had to escape at all costs. So he was trying to protect it? That must mean he wants to, you know, keep it and all."

"I imagine he's had ample opportunity to brew the appropriate potions by now if he'd wanted to. So I expect you're right." She reached out and touched his hand. "Harry, the… situation with you two has gotten rather complicated, hasn't it?"

Nodding, Harry leaned back into the sofa. "That's one way of putting it. What am I going to do, Hermione?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to be with him."

"And the baby?"

"It's a part of him."

Hermione nodded. "And what does he think about all this?"

"He thinks it's not a good choice for me."

"But what about him?"

"Dunno. He hasn't really said. It seems like he wants it, but he doesn't _want_ to want it. You know what I mean?"

Hermione huffed. "Yes, I know what you mean."

Harry smiled. "How is it you always know?"

"Woman's intuition? Now, then: what's your plan?"

"I guess I need to find out if he wants to be with me as well."

"I don't suppose you considered just asking him?"

Harry was surprised. "Do you think that would work? It would definitely make things a lot simpler. But… what if he says no?"

Hermione shrugged. "Then at least you know. You can work on trying to be friends."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

Harry spent the next couple of days in an endless cycle of working up his courage and chickening out. He was supposed to talk to Snape… Severus. He'd told Hermione he would.

But talking wasn't exactly his strong point, was it? He was much more of a do-er. Granted, sometimes the things he did didn't always work out for the best, which was probably why he was so reluctant. Given his track record, he'd probably screw it all up and lose his chance forever!

Then again, he did manage to kill Voldemort. That, at least, hadn't been flubbed. Of course, he hadn't really done it on his own – he'd had tons of help.

Mostly from Severus. So maybe that was some sort of sign? That they made a good team? Relationships being pretty much _just_ like killing dark lords, of course.

Merlin, he was hopeless.

Finally, after three days of waffling and yet another awkwardly silent dinner, Harry had had enough. He stood up from his chair and walked around the table to Severus, who looked up at him as Harry put his hand on his shoulder.

"All right if I kiss you?" Harry asked.

"I… er," Severus stuttered.

"Please? I've made my decision – I just need to know if you've made yours."

"I… suppose?"

That was good enough for Harry! Grinning, nervousness forgotten in the face of finally getting to _do_ something, Harry leaned down and brushed his lips across Severus's.

With a barely audible whimper, Severus leaned into Harry and reached his hand up behind Harry's neck.

Of course, he still had his fork in his hand from dinner, so Harry jumped back with a startled, "Aagh!" rubbing at the back of his head.

Wide-eyed, Severus stared, his mouth opening and closing without a sound as his cheeks tinged pink.

It was too much for Harry. "Phwahaha!" he laughed as Severus regained his composure. "You stabbed me!"

"I… Yes, I suppose I did," Severus replied, one corner of his mouth lifting. "I did, after all, tell you this would be no good for you!"

Still smiling, Harry conceded, "So you did, but I bet if we try it again without the fork, things will improve dramatically!"

"An interesting hypothesis," Severus said, putting his fork down at a safe distance. "It would seem we have no choice but to test it empirically if we are to resolve the issue." Smirking, he added, "For those not so… scientifically-minded, 'empirically' means 'based on actual experience'."

Actual experience sounded good. Harry grinned. Merlin, he really did love this ridiculous git! He stooped down for another go, and this time there were no sharp pains, only soft, warm skin and an inexplicable tightness in his chest.

When he finally pulled away, Severus sat with his eyes still closed for a moment before looking up at Harry with a warm expression. "It seems your hypothesis has been borne out by the evidence."

"That means you're in, right?"

Severus swallowed. "Apparently so."

Things did not change between them as much as Harry might have expected. They sat a bit closer on the sofa and they stared at each other a lot and things were still generally pretty awkward. But then, sometimes, there were kisses. And those were amazing, not awkward at all – discounting the first time with the fork, and all, of course.

There were 'good morning' kisses and 'goodnight' kisses and just all around 'I really want to kiss you right now' kisses. But there wasn't a lot more than kisses. Hands were okay from the shoulders up, but Severus did not allow much bodily contact between them at all.

Which was why, one morning, Harry couldn't take his eyes off Severus when he came out from his shower. He wore only his shirt and trousers, without his accustomed robes covering him up.

"Wow," Harry breathed.

Severus stopped. "What? Have I got something on my face?"

Harry stepped toward him. "No," he answered, reaching out his hand. "You've got… you've got a bump. Can I…?"

"If you must. Though I think I just look a bit… chubby, to be honest. "

Harry shook his head and placed his palm on Severus's baby bump. "No. You look beautiful! How far along are you, exactly?"

Severus raised an eyebrow, but made no comment on Harry's assessment. "Nineteen weeks."

"Wow," Harry said again, fingers gently exploring Severus's belly. "Does it feel weird?"

"'Weird' is probably the best word to describe it, yes."

"Can you feel it move?"

Severus shook his head. "No, not yet."

When Harry looked up, he added, "That is normal for this stage of development."

"Ah, good then." Harry continued exploring, wondering what kind of tiny person was growing in there and how Severus could manage it. What a huge responsibility! Though, Harry supposed, Severus had been in charge of young lives for a long time already, so –

"Mmmh," Severus sort of groan-sighed and Harry quickly lifted his hands.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, you… you didn't hurt me."

"Then…" Harry looked up, taking in Severus's expression. "Oh. _Oh_." He moved his hands back to Severus's belly. "Is this okay?"

"Please trust that, if anything is ever not okay, I will inform you. Or do I strike you as the bashful type?"

"I s'pose not."

"Indeed," Severus breathed, and leaned down to kiss Harry.

Ooh, the kissing was so much better with more touching!

Harry only realized he had pressed the full length of his body against Severus's when Severus stepped back. He missed the feeling immediately.

Breathing heavily, Severus said, "I don't know if I can give you what you want, Harry. I don't think I can…"

"We don't have to. There's a lot of things we can do together. I don't want anything that you don't want just as much."

"Yes. All right. Slowly."

Harry nodded. "Slowly." With one last, brief kiss, he took Severus's hand. "Ready for breakfast?"

When they came to a lull in the toast-crunching and oatmeal-munching, Harry said, "You know, you can't stay in here forever."

Severus stiffened and, not looking up, said, "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Harry said, pointing his spoon at Severus. "I just mean you're going to have to go outside eventually, to get a new wand if nothing else. Don't think I haven't noticed you've been doing everything wandless since you got here!"

Severus let out a slow breath. "I see."

"So what I'm saying is, we're going to have to do something about the Death Eaters. Do you want to call the Aurors, or take care of them ourselves?"

"What?"

"Well, obviously we can't just leave them be. Who knows what they might do! And besides, you'd never be comfortable going out, knowing they were out there somewhere. And that's no way to live, especially when the little one comes along."

"You… may have a point."

Harry grinned. "Well, thanks. Now, what do you want to do?"

"I shall take some time to consider the options – not all of us rush in like fools! I have spent too long pushing things out of my mind," Severus answered, shaking his head.

"You're a bit entitled, I think."

"Nevertheless, it was reckless to leave it so long."

"Maybe I'm rubbing off on you," Harry said, smiling.

"Hardly."

"Well, maybe later then." Harry began collecting the dishes with an impish grin.

The muttered "brat" just made him smile bigger.

"I believe I shall see a healer," Severus announced at breakfast later that week.

"What, are you sick? Or still hurt?" Harry asked. The nightmares had been getting less and less frequent, but what if…?

Severus's eyebrow went up. "I'm pregnant, you idiot."

Harry panicked. "Is the baby okay? Is it sick?"

"Calm yourself. As far as I know, the fetus is in perfect health. However, it is usual for people in my condition to see a healer at regular intervals to monitor the growth of the fetus and ensure that all is well." Harry let out a slow breath. "Under more normal circumstances, I would have been long before now."

"Okay. So then, if it's not sick, what do they, you know, _do_?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "I just told you, if you were listening. But, to elaborate, they will likely measure the length of the fetus, analyze its heartbeat to ensure there are no anomalies, check my general health – "

"We can hear its heartbeat?" Harry asked, eyes wide. How awesome would that be?

"We should be able to," Severus answered. "And I believe at this stage of development they should be able to discern the sex. It's at nearly twenty-one weeks' gestation, after all."

"Oh, cool! Do you want a boy or a girl?"

Severus stilled. "I… I don't know. I hadn't thought."

"Oooh, maybe it'll be twins!"

Blanching, hand going automatically to his belly, Severus barked, "Don't be ridiculous!"

"What, it totally could be! Right?"

"Technically, perhaps, but the chances are quite low. So you see why I must see a healer: there are many questions that need answering."

Harry nodded. "Right, so you'll see a healer."

"The only question that remains is whom do I see?"

"Why does it matter?"

The look Severus gave him told Harry he was being a dunderhead again.

"Suppose it were someone who does not believe your testimony and believes me a true Death Eater? Suppose it were a close relative of one of the men who held me captive? Suppose it were a Gryffindor who barely passed his exams and is incompetent?"

"Hey, no need to bring House into it! But I guess I see your point. You know, Luna's training to be a healer. She's only about two years into her apprenticeship, but I swear I think she said she's doing something with babies. She 'competent' enough for you?"

Severus considered for a moment, then nodded. "Miss Lovegood should do nicely."

Harry jumped up. "Awesome! I'll go floo her!"

"I believe I am capable of making my own appointments."

Sitting back down, Harry said, "Oh. But I still get to… I can come, right?"

Severus let one corner of his mouth lift up, his expression softening. "Yes, you can come."

In the end, instead of either of them going anywhere, Luna came to them. She had offered, and Severus still wasn't comfortable leaving Grimmauld Place, so it seemed like the best option.

Had he known Hermione would just casually show up right at the time of the appointment as if she had no idea what was happening and simply wanted to drop by for tea, they might have rethought the house call. As it was, Harry decided to be grateful for the moral support and leave Severus to sort out his issues with privacy in his own time.

Harry tried to hold Severus's hand during the scans, but apparently that was a bit too forward in front of Luna and Hermione, so he settled for hovering and held Hermione's hand instead.

It turned out not to be twins, after all, and Severus lost some of the pinched look on his face when the single heartbeat was amplified to fill the room. Harry listened in silent awe as long as Luna held the charm. It was so fast!

"Seems very healthy," Luna told them. "He's got all his parts, and no extras. The womb seems to be holding quite well so far. I think I should come back to check the two of you over at least once a month until you deliver, which should be around the middle of May. Do you have any questions for me, Dad?"

Severus looked up, startled, then scowled. "Not at this time."

"All right. Then I'll see you again next month."

Squeezing Harry's hand, Hermione followed Luna out.

A bit dazed, Harry turned to Severus as he stood up from the sofa where Luna had examined him. "Did she say 'he'? It's a boy?"

"I suppose. Though she may have been speaking generally. Perhaps we should have verified…"

Suddenly, Harry grinned. "Oh, Severus, this is so wonderful!" he cried, throwing his arms around Severus. "Aren't you totally excited? This is gonna be so great!"

"Calm down, brat," Severus grumbled, though he squeezed back just as tightly.

Things were pretty calm for a while. Harry puttered around the house, ostensibly trying to figure out what to do with his life but really just cooking and cleaning and putting together baby stuff. Every time he went out, he came back with another tiny outfit or stuffed animal or educational toy. They had set up the biggest bedroom on the third floor for the baby and, though Harry would never admit it, it was getting pretty full.

He and Severus continued to get closer. Under cover of feeling the baby bump, which was much easier now that they could actually feel the baby kick – and how cool was that? – Harry had slowly got Severus used to a lot more touching. Not that Harry didn't really love feeling Severus's belly – possibly he loved it too much. He worried it made him some sort of sexual deviant, or at least a bit weird, but it was just so _hot_. He tried not to let on to Severus how much it turned him on, but since Severus seemed to know everything the effort was probably futile.

Maybe Severus didn't mind so much, though. He seemed pretty into it now when Harry couldn't keep his hands to himself, and yesterday when Harry had truly lost control and rutted against Severus until he came in his pants, Severus just let out a sexy growl and didn't seem disgusted at all. Harry was confident he'd be able to get Severus naked soon and bask in all his skinny, pregnant glory.

Luna came by again when Severus was six months along to do her measurements and charms. While Harry was distracted, listening intently to the heartbeat, Severus spoke.

"I was remiss at our last appointment in not confirming your statement – you had said 'he' was healthy. The fetus is male, then?"

Luna smiled. "Oh, didn't I say? You're going to have a little girl."

"A… what?"

"It's a girl!"

"A girl!" Harry blurted. "But we thought it was a boy!"

Luna just looked at him placidly. "Oh, you were wrong."

"Well, yeah! Now I've got to take back all that stuff I got and buy new!"

"Why should that be?"

"Well, it's all blue and some of it's got dinosaurs on and… you know."

"That sounds lovely! My favorite color is blue. Are there any hadrosaurs? I think I like those best, with their lovely duckbills."

Harry blinked. "Erm, I dunno. I suppose I could check."

"No need! I'll make sure she has a hadrosaur toy… perhaps a saurolophus."

"A saur–… sure, that would be, er, great. Thanks."

Luna left soon after and Harry started making a new mental list of possible colors to paint the baby's room. He'd been leaning toward green, but maybe purple instead? Severus would be no help; any time Harry asked him for an opinion on what to get he always just told Harry to do whatever he wanted as it was his house and his money. Would pink be too much? Maybe with some little lacey curtains…

"It's time, Harry," Severus said suddenly, pausing Harry's internal struggle.

"It's… what? Time for what?"

"Time to do something about the remaining Death Eaters."

"Oh. That. Yes, I expect you're right. Shall I call the DA or the Aurors, then?"

They didn't do anything right away, of course. The more Harry itched to rush out and teach those monsters a lesson, the more Severus wanted to plan a sound strategy. He insisted on limiting the number of people involved to seven, including the two of them. Harry supposed he should be glad he didn't count the baby!

So Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Neville were brought in. Severus was pretty skeptical about Neville at first, but once Harry told him about Neville chopping off Nagini's head with a sword his opinion seemed to shift a bit. He even thanked him the first time they all came over, which was super weird but had the added benefit of making Neville a lot less wary of him at subsequent meetings.

Harry went through what they knew again. They were headquartered at the Lestrange estate, headed in name by Rabastan Lestrange but in reality by Lucius Malfoy. There were about fifteen of them, though perhaps more living elsewhere. None of them had any magic, excepting a couple of the younger ones who could do small charms with great effort. They stayed under the Ministry's radar, shopping with much complaint at Muggle stores and staying out of Wizarding areas. They were utterly focused on getting back their magic and were convinced that Severus was the key to doing so. If they could just figure out how he'd gotten his back, they could do it too.

It made Harry's blood boil just thinking about it! "When are we going to go then?" he demanded again.

"You're not going, Harry. You've got to stay here and keep an eye on Snape!" Ginny said.

"Are you mad? I'm not staying here!"

"Harry, they're sure to guess where he's staying when they see the lot of us. What if they get away and come looking for him? You've both got to stay put!" she insisted, with the others all nodding along.

"I beg your pardon," Severus said, "but I will not be staying here."

"What?" Harry turned. "Of course you are!"

"Indeed, I am not. I will be going on this mission." His eyes softened. "You know I will never rest easy until I see with my own eyes that they are incapacitated."

"I guess I can see that, but you've got the baby to think about as well."

Severus shook his head. "I will not be swayed."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Well then, it's best to go as soon as possible. I doubt you'll be able to get around very well if we hold off much longer."

"I agree," Luna added. "You won't be much use all puffed up like a dirigible plum, will you?"

Harry snickered, imagining Severus's seven-month baby bump causing him to float.

Severus stared for a moment, clearly trying not to choke on whatever words he was holding in. "Yes. Quite," he bit out.

"Okay, so how about this weekend, then?" Ron proposed.

After a bit of hashing out, it was decided that they would be going under cover of darkness on Saturday evening, in just three days. Harry couldn't wait.

Afterwards, on the way back from delivering their prisoners to the Ministry and answering far too many questions, the soft light of a new dawn breaking, Harry's mind wouldn't slow down. He kept seeing flashes of all the scary moments when the booby traps or estate wards had come for Severus, who, despite Harry's fears about his magic acting up at a crucial moment, deflected them all with relative ease.

Though they had no magic, the Death Eaters had acquired Muggle weapons that were a bit of a problem at first. In fact, Neville had been shot in the arm pretty early on, though after Luna's quick bandage charm he insisted on staying throughout. After over three years since he'd had to do any real fighting and more than one since he'd quit Auror training, Harry was not exactly happy to be back in a battle.

He kept thinking back to all the instances where Severus had been particularly vicious in his attacks and thinking helplessly, 'This man hurt my Severus.' Malfoy, in particular, had ended up missing a hand, his pretentious cane, and, Harry suspected, some other rather important bits. The hungry looks on their faces when they saw that Severus was pregnant, when they realized just how much magic he must have left to maintain that, made Harry feel sick to his stomach.

How he wished he could just go back and stop it all from happening!

"We're here," Severus said, and Harry looked up.

Indeed, they were back on the front porch of Grimmauld Place, in the very spot where Severus had come back into his life.

Overwhelmed, Harry said, "I love you, you know."

Severus opened and closed his mouth a couple of times without saying anything, then pulled Harry inside.

"I suppose… yes. I do know," he said as he closed the door behind them. "I know, and I… I think I… well."

Harry smiled. "Yeah? That's good." He hugged Severus hard, savoring the fact that they were alive and well, mostly unscathed except perhaps mentally.

"Will you…? Would you – Take me to bed, Harry."

Harry groaned. "Oh, yes. I can definitely do that," he said, pulling Severus up the stairs. "We'll be naked and everything?"

"I sincerely hope so."

"Good." Harry kicked the bedroom door shut and walked Severus back toward the bed. "You sure you're okay with this?"

"Very sure," Severus answered, unbuttoning Harry's shirt. "I am not made of glass. You don't have to be… gentle with me."

"Oh Merlin, you're going to kill me."

Severus smirked. "Hopefully not until you do as you were asked."

"Yes! I'm gonna get right on that," Harry answered, pulling Severus's socks off and climbing over him. "I'm not going to hurt the baby?"

"You're not. You don't need to worry about that. Now stop asking stupid questions and fuck me already!"

Harry groaned. "At least I'll die happy," he said, covering Severus's naked body with his own and burying his face in Severus's neck. Between Severus's hot breath in his ear, his hard cock pressed into Harry's thigh, and the feel of his belly squashed between them, Harry worried he'd never make it to the fucking.

Pulling back a bit, he sat straddling Severus's thighs, taking in the sight of him. His chest rose and fell quickly, and Harry noticed for the first time his red, swollen nipples.

The first traces of doubt began to show in Severus's face. "I know I'm not… between my generally unpleasant appearance and the fact I look like a bloody woman right now, I hope – "

Harry stopped him with a fierce kiss. "Don't say that. I find you plenty pleasant, and what's wrong with women, anyway? You're still _you_ and you look… amazing." He tweaked one of those frankly irresistible nipples and Severus let out a low moan.

"Please," he gasped.

"Oh, don't you worry. I'm going to take good care of you," Harry assured him as he wrapped a hand around his leaking penis. "I'll always take care of you."

Thrusting helplessly into Harry's tight fist, Severus said, "It's been a bloody age – you might skip the usual preliminaries and get right to it, or this won't end how we were hoping."

"But I want to touch you and taste you and make you mad!" Harry answered, one hand working Severus's cock and the other worrying a nipple.

"I'm quite mad already!" Severus insisted. "There will be plenty of time for all that next time, just get something bloody inside me!"

"Next time. Yes, okay. Next time's gonna take a while, so block out a good chunk of time for me," Harry said, summoning the lube and probing behind Severus's balls.

"I – ah! – thought you weren't looking to survive this encounter," Severus gasped out as Harry wiggled his slick finger inside.

"Well now I've been promised a next time, I plan to do my best." Harry grinned, pushing a second finger into the tight warmth.

"I'm pleased to hear it, now kindly get to it!"

Snickering, Harry pulled his hand away and got more lube. Pushing Severus's knees back, Harry settled into position. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"If you ask me that one more bloody time – _nnnnngg_."

In one slow, steady motion, Harry thrust inside, then paused, panting, waiting to get his bearings back.

Severus, head thrown back and groaning low, reached up to hold onto the headboard.

"Merlin, you might kill me after all."

"I'm considering it, but maybe if you put your back into it..."

"All right, all right!" Harry started slowly, but he wasn't able to hold back for long. The feel of Severus's arse hot and tight around his cock and his heels pressing on his bum and his round belly smushed firmly against Harry with his cock trapped in between, the sight of his brow furrowed with intense pleasure and his knuckles white around the slats of the bed and fucking Merlin… were his nipples actually leaking from all of Harry's twisting? Harry licked one, testing the bit of sweet, clear liquid.

"I can't… You're so…! Fuck," Harry gasped.

"Eloquent, as – mmmm – as usual."

"Oh, shut it. I'm gonna – "

"Yes! Do it hard, come inside me. I want to feel you in my throat," Severus demanded, squirming about in an attempt to thrust back against Harry.

"Fucking hell," Harry muttered, reaching down to wrap his hand around Severus's slippery cock as best he could. He bit down on Severus's shoulder and, one stroke later, felt Severus stiffen, spasming and clenching around him. Another three or four good, hard thrusts and Harry was overwhelmed, coming what felt like harder than ever before.

The next thing he knew, he was blinking his eyes against the sunlight streaming through the window from a position basically collapsed on top of Severus. His cock had already slipped free and he could feel the stickiness of Severus's release between them where his big belly forced Harry's back to arch up, but that didn't make him any more apt to move.

"Thought maybe I'd killed you, after all."

Giving Severus a squeeze, he answered, "Ha bloody ha. Are you all right? Was that…? I hope I wasn't too rough with you."

Severus shook his head. "No, it was… Well, I think you know. I had expected to feel some… reticence, I suppose, that perhaps my preferences and appetites might have changed. But with you I only wanted more."

Harry snuggled his head down into Severus's shoulder. "Well, that's all right then. I've got loads more."

– Four months later –

Harry clutched the precious bundle a little tighter to his chest, careful not to wake her. It was only in the last couple of days they'd been able to get much rest at all and he didn't want to jeopardize any sleep they might get that night. "I've been thinking."

"Was it painful?"

"Be quiet, you git. This is serious! I wondered how you would feel if I, you know. If I adopted her. To make it sort of… more official."

When Severus didn't say anything for a moment, Harry looked back at him. He could not decipher the expression and worried he'd overstepped.

"You fool," Severus said warmly. "There's no need to adopt her."

"But I – "

Severus held up a hand and Harry quieted. "There is no need for you to adopt her because you are already listed as her other father on the birth certificate."

"I… what? As her _real_ father?"

"You are her real father, dunderhead. It takes love, not DNA, to make a father."

Harry rushed over, heedless of the sleeping infant in his arms, to hug Severus. "Thank you," he said into Severus's shoulder.

"Idiot," Severus answered fondly.


End file.
